Jack-up barges ready for removal

TITAN Salvage's jack-up barges Karlissa-A and Karlissa-B arrived in Rotterdam, Netherlands on Jan. 22 for the wreck removal of the Vinca Gorthon.

TITAN Salvage's jack-up barges Karlissa-A and Karlissa-B arrived in Rotterdam, Netherlands on Jan. 22 for the wreck removal of the Vinca Gorthon.

TITAN Salvage's jack-up barges Karlissa-A and Karlissa-B arrived in Rotterdam, Netherlands on Jan. 22 for the wreck removal of the Vinca Gorthon, a roll-on/roll-off vessel, which sank in the North Sea in 1988.

The Ministry of Waterways North Sea Division, part of the Dutch, Ministry of Waterways, awarded TITAN the wreck removal project.

The Vinca Gorthon lies approximately 29 kilometers off the Netherland coast at a depth of 80.4 ft in a very busy shipping traffic lane. The vessel protrudes 32.8 ft from the seabed and has become a danger to modern ships with a draft of 49.2 ft or more.

The Vinca Gorthon weighs approximately 19,000 tonnes with cargo, and measures 544.6 ft long and 75.4 ft wide. The ship, which was laden with rolls of paper and tank trailers with paper pulp, was enroute from the Swedish port of Oskarshamn to Antwerp, Belgium when she sank.

Prompt removal of the wreck is critical due to the increase in the number of ship movements in the North Sea related to developments in offshore energy, including oil and gas and wind parks. The wreck is blocking part of the navigational route.

TITAN is scheduled to have the vessel removed by Nov. 1, 2010.

The Karlissa-A and Karlissa-B jack-up barges operate in the most demanding marine environments. The barges, which have a combined total of 6,168 ft of clear deck space, can jack in depths of up to 164 ft. The KARLISSA-B has a 272 metric tonnes capacity platform ringer crane. The barges can load over 900 metric tonnes and are adaptable to accommodate upwards of 1,350 metric tonnes of vertical lift or 130 metric tonnes of lateral pull utilizing TITAN pullers.

In 2008, TITAN used both the Karlissa-A and Karlissa-B barges, which were raised 40 feet above the surf zone, to remove the New Carissa, a 640-ft wood-chip carrier, which ran aground just north of Coos Bay, Ore. during a February 1999 storm. The barges served as a stable platform for the salvage team to work on and above a very active surf zone.